5 D a y s
by VioletCloud
Summary: 1899. 5 days before Christmas, he met that homeless boy - still unaware that this would be the beginning of 120 magical hours. AU GerIta, m/m slash.


~1899~19. December~

The smell of Glühwein and gingerbread.  
The coldness in the air that turned noses red.  
The gentle, happy atmosphere.  
The soft snowflakes hitting the ground and the lights which made them seem like dying fireflies.

Ludwig disliked everything about the Christmas market. In fact, he wasn't really fond of Christmas in general.  
Such a waste of time and money, the people's excitement about Christmas time was something Ludwig never quite got.

Yet, he had spent the whole evening stomping through muddy snow, looking at this parade and that attraction and, far the worst, wasting his money on overpriced rubbish.

The one responsible for his anger? Well, she was walking right next to him, clinging to the thick, dark coat that warded the cold.  
With a smile on her lips and shining eyes, she still looked fairly content – even though they already spent several hours on the overcrowded Christmas market.

Ludwig sighed. Elise, a 15-year-old whose blond hair and blue eyes resembled his own ones was not only addicted to shopping, but also to sweets, small talk and lively places.  
It wasn't like he hated his fiancée, not at all. Elise was really honest and upbeat. But seriously, Ludwig wasn't sure whether he would have proposed to such a talkative, loud and careless woman if he had been the one to choose.

„Ludwig, look! Over there!", his fiancée suddenly exclaimed, turning to him. „The roasted almonds look delicious... let's get some?"  
The blond scowled.  
„You're still hungry?", he asked wearily. Every single one of her requests made his wallet cringe.

Elise blinked a couple of times and pouted. „Not _still _hungry. I'm hungry _again_!", she answered.  
The tired male in front of her sighed once more, but nodded and started to walk towards the almond seller.

„Thank you, darling!", Elise beamed and followed him eagerly.

While Elise was busy telling the seller that roasted almonds were her all-time favourite Christmas sweets - right after gingerbread, marcipane, truffles and almond biscuits – Ludwig let his exhausted body rest for a minute and glanced over the market.

The people of Berlin were laughing, talking, hurrying. Some were tipsy, others worn out. Most were drinking alcohol. It was disguisting to see how irresponsible all of them acted.  
Even the social stratum didn't matter anymore: He saw an old nobleman who was shamelessly flirting with a young, disturbed peasant woman; a soldier trying to start a fight with a bunch of monks and...

...now there was something that caught his attention.  
Right next to a dim lantern sat a shivering person, wrapped in a holey blanket. The person's baker boy cap hid his face, but Ludwig couldn't make out longer hair so he assumed that the trembler was male.

Why was he even thinking about this? It was obviously just another homeless person that was simply too lazy to work, but there was _something _about that stranger made Ludwig stare at him.

Other people passing limited his sight, but for some reason, he couldn't avert his glance.  
From the corner of his eye, Ludwig could see that Elise was still busy talking to the vender. He knew that it was stupid and thoughtless, but after taking a deep breath, it still didn't stop him from quickly rushing towards the lantern.

After bumping into a couple of complaining people and murmuring some half-hearted excuses, Ludwig stood right in front of the trembling male he had observed beforehand.

„Um...", Ludwig started. He suddenly realised that he hadn't thought about _what _he wanted to say – or to do, for that matter. Still, Ludwig's sheer presence seemed to make the sitting person move.

The glow of the lantern enlightened the stranger's face as he slowly lifted his head.  
Auburn bangs fell over the light brown eyes that looked at him tired, yet full of curiosity; as if questioning whether their owner really was the one that was spoken to.

A couple of seconds passed by, neither of them saying something. Even though the air was filled with the noises of Christmas, Ludwig felt like the two of them were in a bubble reigned by silence that didn't let any other noises inside.

Finally Ludwig looked to the side, muttering „I'm sorry... for bothering you". He made an attempt to turn around, but a bright, boyish voice prevented him from doing so.

„Who... who... a-are you?", the stranger stuttered. He was probably quite young, though his face looked exhausted, worn out. It was also decorated with several scratches and dirt.

Ludwig hesitated. Should he really tell some homeless person his name? Then again, there was no real reason not to.  
„My name is Beilschmidt", he said, „Ludwig Beilschmidt."

The boy kept glancing at him, almost a bit frightened. Maybe he thought the blond was some policeman that wanted to harm him for... being homeless? Ludwig wasn't sure what they did to street persons.

„N-nice to meet you... Mr. Beil... schmidt", he answered nervously. Ludwig noticed that he had a slight accent. Most likely a foreigner. „I'm... sorry... did I do s-something?"

Ludwig cleared his throat. „No, no, just... what's your name?", he asked, unsure what else to say.

His counterpart seemed relieved. „Feli... Feliciano", he replied, sounding less afraid than before. Probably Spanish or Italian, Ludwig thought. He was about to ask which nationality the boy belonged to when someone gripped his right arm.

„There you are!", a familiar voice exclaimed. Ludwig turned around to see a slightly upset-looking Elise. „You can't just stroll around and leave me behind, you know? But I'm glad I found you", his fiancée said with a smile of relief.  
Suddenly, her eyes caught the staring boy sitting on the ground.

„Who's that? You don't know that person, do you?" Elise asked, a hint of disgust in her voice. He slowly shook his head.  
„Good, because he looks like some homeless guy and they smell. Yucky." She wrinkled her nose.  
„Let's go, Ludwig!"

When the couple left, a few pennys clattered on the ground, right in front of the quivering person.

It wasn't much, but the light of the lantern made it look like gold.

* * *

_A story for that I'm going to publish one chapter/day until Christmas - if anybody likes it :)  
Also, Elise is an OC. I just couldn't imagine any of the other canon characters for her role.  
Have a wonderful Christmas time! :)_


End file.
